The week started like any other. The kids headed out for school on Monday, with a little snow on the ground. I worked on Monday, writing and consulting. Then Monday night came. And boy, did it come! We awoke Tuesday with ice coming down, well worse than ice — freezing rain.

The schools canceled classes early in the morning. We had already been awake to find that out. Then, at 7:10am, I heard my cell phone’s tone when the charger is disconnected — except I hadn’t unplugged it! Then I heard a series of pops from around the neighborhood. The ice had built up too much on the trees, and the branches were giving way. Then the powerlines were giving way. And now you know: we were in the dark!

There are hundreds of thousands without power. My family is just one of many. So, after thinking it through for a few hours (along with the power company telling everyone that it could be a week to 10 days until the power was restored), we took a few things and moved into my office. Fortunately, my office is located in an old house, so we have basic home furnishings. We are truly fortunate compared to the many that are in shelters.

Our house grows colder and colder. The days grow longer and longer. It was just a few short months ago that we lost power for 8 days when the remnants of Hurricane Ike came through town.

So, my daughter decided that maybe God was trying to teach us a lesson (don’t we all wonder when we are having tough times?). My wife said immediately, jokingly (sort of), “Yeah, God’s telling us to move!” My thoughtful daughter responded, “No, I think God is telling us we take too much for granted. We should be more grateful for what we have and should be thinking of others less fortunate!” Ah, my wise daughter.

Now, forget whether this is God teaching a lesson. The lesson is still true. We too easily get used to what we have, and take it for granted. Sometimes, tough times can remind us of this.

Tough times in marriage are no different. The struggles often make us appreciate the good times even more. Tough times pass. Tough people move through them.

For all those cold and in the dark, my thoughts and prayers are with you. For all those in difficulties, including marital difficulties, my thoughts and prayers are with you. I am thankful for moments that remind me of this (even if I am also hoping for power SOON!).

********************
More marriage saving information can be found in my ebook, SAVE YOUR MARRIAGE HERE.

OK, I know the subject may seem obvious. All the stereotypes of midlife crises include an affair, new car, new job, extreme sports, maybe even plastic surgery!

Too bad because that misses the point of a midlife crisis. A mid life crisis is really about someone seeking meaning in life. Trying to figure out what to do that would bring meaning — that is the real issue. The reason: we all have a need for meaning in life, and the majority of people don’t really know how to find it.

This leads to the midlife marriage crisis. Often, this is made more complicated by an affair. Suddenly, the couple has to figure out how to resolve a midlife crisis and stop an affair. The mess is made worse.

Here’s the thing: an affair, sexual or emotional, is not going to help anyone through a midlife crisis. Unfortunately, because the seeking meaning is so hard to define, but the drive is so great, many people find themselves caught in a web of temptation.

It is a sense that the current marriage is not meaningful. But the real issue is that life is not meaningful. Finding meaning in life, not having an affair, is a healthy approach.

********************
More marriage saving information can be found in my ebook, SAVE YOUR MARRIAGE HERE.

I love to trail run. I love the feeling of going through the woods, feeling the ground beneath me, usually just behind my yellow Lab. Now, I don’t live in what anyone would consider to be the Mecca of trail running.

But there is this one trail. . . I figure I have run it over 600 times. It is my standby trail, about 7 miles long. After that many runs, I know what is coming, and exactly where I am. I don’t have to think about it, I just go.

But one of the things I really love is watching the seasons change as I run the same stretch of land. I watch the progress of each season as I go: the growing warmth and green of Spring, the heat and humidity of Summer, the cool colors of Fall, and the bitter solitude of Winter. . .

Which led me to contemplate this about the seasons: Marriage is a lot like the seasons of the year. And we don’t act like it is.

We like to think that a marriage is going to be just like it was (fill in the blank). We expect that we will always be gushing with love, passion, emotion, etc., that many feel at the beginning of a marriage. Unfortunately, that is not reality.

So what if we shifted our thoughts a little bit? What if we started to expect that marriage is more like the seasons of the year? This changes two things:

1. We stop pretending that nothing will change. We accept that things will change, and that this is OK.
2. We come to believe that the place we are will change.

In other words, things will not stay as good as we wish them to, but they won’t stay as bad as they can get sometimes. Life is change. Life is shift. Life is seasons.

You may be reading this because you find yourself in the Winter of a marriage. It can all seem so cold, so barren, so desolate. It can seem that nothing will get better. We think back to the cool of Fall, wishing it was back. If you aren’t careful, you can fool yourself into believing that something better can ever come.

But Spring is always just around the corner, if we wait for it. Sometimes, we decide to just move to Antarctica, camp out in desolation. But if we just wait it out, Winter leads to Spring.

It may come slowly: kinder words toward each other, a hand held, a hug accepted. But soon, the Spring thaw takes over and their is growth. Spring can take some cultivation, action, effort.

I grow Banana trees in my backyard (yes, bananas can grow in Kentucky!), and when I plant the stalks each year, it is in the early days of Spring. The brown stalks have no leaves, look dead, and just sit there. . . for what seems like forever! But I have faith. I keep on watering. Then, one day, I notice a little green beginning to break through the top. Then a leaf erupts. Suddenly, the plant takes off!

But guess what? Even during the period when the plant looked dead, it really wasn’t. It was hard at work on the inside, getting ready to shoot up!

Sometimes, marriage is the same way. Things just look dead, but there is lots of activity on the inside. Both individuals may be working hard to get things going, even if it is outwardly invisible. Suddenly, Spring arrives.

And Spring is followed by Summer. Those fun, lazy days. Life just seems so much easier. The rhythm of life changes to an easier pace. Life (or the relationship) is enjoyed and savored.

But just when you think you have it figured out, some leaves start falling. Cool breezes kick up. In marriages, the assumption that you finally have it all figured out gives way to new disagreements and realizations that you really don’t see things alike. The cool can be breathtaking, but it is easy to pretend that the cold is not coming. After all, there are still warm days.

Until one day, there is frost on the ground. Conversations screech to a halt. Tensions create distance. Distance leads to more cold. At that point, both people are wondering what happened to the relationship. How did it get so cold, so distant?

Well. . . that is the cycle of life! Winter does come. But so does Spring.

As cold as it is, I still drag myself out to run the trail, because Winter may not be quite as enjoyable, it can be beautiful — and Spring is coming!

********************
More marriage saving information can be found in my ebook, available by CLICKING HERE.

In the United States, it is around Thanksgiving, a time set aside to be thankful. For far too many people, it really becomes an opportunity to eat a big meal, watch a little football, and take a few days off work. Too bad!

What an opportunity to set aside a time to do what we should always do: focus on that for which we are thankful. In fact, the latest research on our health and our ability to thrive shows that those who are thankful and express gratitude live longer, have more meaningful lives, and report higher levels of happiness.

Trouble is, when we have problems, we tend to forget to be thankful. This often has very detrimental effects on our lives and our relationships.

One place this is particularly true is in marriage. Usually, we start relationships being so thankful for the person we met. In fact, when I am talking with pre-marital couples, this is a common theme. It never fails that each is thankful for having found the other. And they can even tell me what they are thankful for.

Then, somewhere along the line, as arguments and conflicts take their tolls on the relationship, we begin to lose track of that for which we are thankful. Suddenly, we are much more aware of what the other person does that bothers us (or doesn’t do that bothers us). We lose track of what the other brings to us and to the relationship. And that is when the relationship hits the wall.

In fact, I believe that this process is what creates the real crisis. When we fall out of touch with being thankful for our spouse, our spouse begins to feel unwanted, unloved, unappreciated, and “wrong.” That is when people start asking “what did I do wrong?” with no answer. You see, our minds either operate on gratitude and thanksgiving or fear/hurt and protection. There is not much in-between.

Soon, neither can tell someone what they were thankful for, and then, neither can even tell what he or she likes about the other person. At that point, contempt and anger begin to set the emotional tone of the relationship. We begin to focus on what we are not getting, completely ignoring what we are getting.

Sound familiar? If you are in that situation, it is one all-too-common, and one that is entirely avoidable! But the time to turn the tide is now. In order to make the shift, you have to take the relationship off automatic, which is where gratitude turns to resentment and thankfulness turns to insufficiency.

Our minds work in predictable ways, when we don’t intervene. But we can easily intervene. We just have to quit allowing the process to run on automatically.

Here are some steps to return to thankfulness and gratitude:

1. Remember that no spouse is as bad as we paint them in our down moments. Our perceptions are skewed when we are upset, angry, or resentful.
2. Remember that people really do the best they can, where they are. This does not mean someone couldn’t do better, only that they are doing the best they can now.
3. Remember what you loved and appreciated in the beginning. In fact:
4. List what you would have said at the beginning of the relationship to this: I am thankful for my spouse because. . .
5. Ask yourself whether those items are still true. If so, focus on being thankful for those items. If not:
6. Ask yourself whether they are really not true, or if you just refuse to see and acknowledge them. Often, we lose track with our spouse’s true nature, and create an image that is not true, then keep looking for facts to support that image.
7. Work to accept your spouse. In fact, this is the greatest, most important point of all. We all deserve to be accepted for who we are (not the same as how we act). We all want that from our spouse, but few want to extend that to our spouse. This has the power to transform your relationship with your spouse.

Thanksgiving always begins with acceptance: “Thanks for getting us this far. We can go further, but we are glad to be here.” Isn’t that the real message of Thanksgiving Day? Be thankful for where you are, wherever that is, because it is not where you were before. Look forward to bigger things, better days, by starting with acceptance of where you are and who your spouse is. Then move from there!

********************
More marriage saving information can be found in my ebook, available by CLICKING HERE.

Do I have your attention? Are you thinking I am blaming you for your marriage?

That is not my intention. The reality is, though, that you are searching for help with your marriage. So, there is nothing I can do about your spouse, but there may be something I can do to help you change, or even save, your marriage.

I constantly hear cries of “it’s not my fault,” or “there’s nothing I can do.” That misses the fact that in any situation, there are two sides contributing to the problems at hand. It may be that your spouse is the primary problem. But honestly, I always see that there are two sides.

In fact, I have come to see relationships like algebra (no math lesson here, as it is certainly not my favorite subject, but I want to make a point). In algegra, there are always two sides to an equation. And both sides are held together by an “equals” sign. One side must equal the other. Make a shift on one side and you must make the same shift on the other side. In other words, both sides must be kept balanced and equal.

The same is true in marriage. If one person makes a shift, the other person must make a shift, just to keep the relationship equation in balance.

You may have already tried making shifts, and become increasingly frustrated that you can’t seem to do anything that makes a difference.

I would submit to you that there is one fundamental shift you can make that will change the relationship: your attitude. One of my favorite writers was Viktor Frankl, survivor of the concentration camps. And my favorite quote from him is “The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one’s freedoms is to choose ones attitude in any given circumstance.”

We tend to give up that freedom. We allow the other person to change and affect our attitude. Often, in the midst of a crisis, we find that we have lost our natural attitude and have become something we are not. It is always possible to choose to correct this.

Let me be more clear: you can choose your attitude. If you do not, the attitude will choose you, and it will likely be negative, short-sighted, ego-centric, and incorrect. A choice in attitude can lead us to hopefulness, patience, understanding, love, respect, and creativity.

Some helpful attitudes:

• An attitude of Forgiveness. We can choose to take on an attitude of forgiveness, and simply let our spouse “off the hook” for every small transgression. I am not saying that you just forget major issues. In fact, forgiveness is not about forgetting. It is not allowing the actions to hold you emotionally hostage anymore. More specifically, forgiveness is letting go so that YOU do not have to carry it around. And too often, it is the small issues that do the most damage, the daily “slights” that we build up until we see the other person as despicable.
• An attitude of Acceptance. What would it mean to accept your spouse, just like he or she is? No more attempts to change, either directly or by manipulation, your spouse into what you want. You simply accept him or her for who he or she is. That would be a great gift. . . and is the start of true love.
• An attitude of Respect. Let’s face it: when we live intimately with someone, we see them at their weakest. Sometimes, we see only the weakness and stop seeing the greatness. We, in essence, lose respect. But what if you focused on their strengths, their gifts, their quirkiness, and decided to extend respect? That may revolutionize your relationship.
• An attitude of Civility. I was recently listening to a recording about providing good customer service. The expert suggested you remember what has been done to you. Do the things you liked, don’t do the things you didn’t like. (Sounds a great deal like the Golden Rule!) That would be civility. Don’t like to be yelled at? Don’t yell. Like to be treated lovingly? Treat lovingly. You get the idea.

Think of it this way: if you do not take back control of your own attitude, someone else gets to control it. And from what I see on a daily basis, when we do this, we are always on the losing end of the deal! We are much better off assuming control than being controlled. Your attitude is yours. Treat is as such!

So, if you want to change your marriage, start with your attitude. You can probably think of many other attitudes you could choose. Go do it! Transform your marriage!

********************
More marriage saving information can be found in my ebook, available by CLICKING HERE.